Oh my, somehow I ended up writing this little oneshot instead of working on things I should... Meh, at least it's something and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I did something I've never tried before and written in first person POV, because I felt that the story worked out much better that way, what with all the stuff Naruto's thinking. So yeah it's Naruto's POV. And if you happen to have a problem with that, which I've noticed some people do, feel free to miss out on a great story.

:D

Disclaimer: I can't draw for shit and I'm not rich enough to buy Kishimoto, so sadly I don't own Naruto or anything else that might be mentioned in here.

No full lemon, but it's still pretty smutty;)

Naruto and Sasuke

Somehow, our names always seem to be associated with each other. But I guess it can't be helped, living in a small town like this. There are only so many people you can be friends with, and only so many you can dislike without becoming lonely. That's why I've spent my life trying to become friends with everyone I can, and I have to say I've succeeded pretty damn well besides that one exception.

Uchiha Sasuke.

If I were to describe him, I'd say he's a jerk who seems to enjoy making my life miserable, and wherever I go he always shows up.

If I were to try and describe our relationship though…

We're not exactly enemies, because we don't hurt each other seriously. But we're definitely not friends, that's as unthinkable as the sun revolving around Earth. 'Rivals' is a fairly good word I suppose, but it's still different from other people's kind of rivalry. Had we made some sort of official status on Facebook it would definitely be 'It's complicated'.

And complicated is exactly how I feel, sitting here on the sunny beach watching him. No, that's not right; it makes me sound like a stalker or something. I'm enjoying the beginning of summer break at the beach with my friends, and he happens to be here too but a ways off, with his own little group of friends. And I'm only watching him because he's playing beach volleyball with some additional random people, and I have to evaluate his progress since I haven't seen him since last fall when he moved to start University in The Big City.

Something I'll definitely do too once I've saved up some more money and figured out what to study.

Sasuke is smooth as always, wearing a light red t-shirt compared to me and most other guys going bare-chested in the heat, running back and forth on the sand like it's nothing. Damn that guy for being so athletic. We've always fought the most when it comes to sports. Somehow, playing basketball –or anything else for that matter – is not as intense without him. We'd always challenge each other, pressure the other to get better, to respond, taking out all our frustrations on the court.

Ugh. I twitch. That bastard just sent me a look, smirking at me, definitely thinking something like 'What, too scared to join?'. As if I'd let him win. Ignoring my friends' objections I get up and go over to the players, joining the opposite team of course. Answering his second smirk with a confident grin we start playing.

Oh how I've missed this! Not the bastard, I'll never admit to missing him. That's ridiculous. But this, this exhilarating feeling, every point a bloody battle between just him and me, the others becoming a blurry grey mass of people.

Those dark eyes latching onto mine, the satisfaction rushing through my body every time he frowns and glares at me for scoring a point, the thirst for revenge consuming me when the corners of his lips turn upwards just a little, mocking me for my losses.

Yes, I missed this badly.

Life without Sasuke is dull.

It turns into a singles match between him and me, no one else being able to keep up to our high tempo. Saying that I forget about time completely is embarrassing but true. I barely acknowledged my friends leaving, too focused on Sasuke. I can never get enough of watching his face as we compete. There's something about the way that usually so stoic face cracks up that fascinates me, and I always try to rile him up as much as I can.

More often than not I succeed, and today we end up yelling right in each other's faces, standing so close that his breath fans my mouth with every shouted insult, my body heat seeping into his. Call me crazy but this might be the only thing I like about Sasuke. The way I can grip his shirt in my hands and pull him close, feeling smug that he can't return the favor without touching skin or, god forbid, swim trunks. The way I can vent on him, knowing that no matter what I say we'll go back to the same as usual tomorrow, avoiding each other but ending up together no matter what.

By the time we're done my blood is rushing through my veins, my hands are trembling for some unknown reason, my breathing is ragged and my voice hoarse. I'm already sweating from the exercise but now I feel as if I'm in a sauna turned up to max.

It's like having an orgasm except without the messy parts. I wouldn't expect anyone to understand though. I tried explaining my interaction with Sasuke to Kiba once when he accused me of having a crush on him, and I ended up going into some sort of very embarrassing complicated explanation before he laughed and admitted his joke.

I still can't believe I fell for that.

After that I avoided Sasuke for real during maybe two weeks, and in the end he beat me up for it. It's not something I'm proud of, and it certainly didn't help my case trying to convince everyone that Sasuke and I really are just rivals.

Chouji called us best frenemies. I guess it's not that far off.

The time it took my body to return to a normal state is about the same it took for the bastard to go buy us drinks from the vending machine, and I admit I even thank him when he stretches my coke out for me to take.

If he's giving me a weird look I'm ignoring it.

"So how's life in "The Big City"?" I ask him, making citation marks and a mocking face.

"Hn. I wouldn't expect a moron like you to understand."

"Ass."

Despite the recent fight we just had our conversation is light, comfortable even. I take a few much needed chugs of my drink and then look around, wondering where all my stuff went after my friends ditched me.

"Over there" Sasuke says in his usual emotionless voice, pointing at a spot nearby.

"I'm not blind" I tell him, sticking my tongue out when he rolls his eyes.

"Might as well be" Sasuke mutters and sips on his own drink.

We spend some time in silence, watching the sky and the glittering water as the sun starts to set, a chill invading my body in the wind that's picking up. I send my pile of stuff and especially my bright orange t-shirt a longing look, wishing I could reach it without having to get up. I'm too comfortable sitting here next to Sasuke though.

"Dumbass, go get it if you're cold."

"Who says I'm cold?" I snap back, not bothering to turn my head and instead sending a glare towards the reddish sun.

"Goosebumps say you are" Sasuke insists, brushing his finger along my arm.

I jerk back, covering the place Sasuke touched with a hand and trying to contain the shiver threatening me, telling myself I'm just ticklish.

"Shut up" I say with another glare, standing up and walking the few hundred meters to get my shirt anyway.

Suddenly I don't feel so cold anymore. Wearing the shirt is probably safer though, or Sasuke might touch me more.

I bite the inside of my cheek, pressing the thought back into the dark confines of my mind. There's nothing good about being touched I repeat to myself angrily as I reluctantly pull the shirt over my head. I can feel his eyes on me, but I ignore it just like I ignore the increased pain in my cheek.

"I'm gonna head home!" I shout as I turn to face him, and he's shading his eyes to see me clearly since the sun is right behind me.

Instead of leaving, like I should, I wait for him as he picks up his shoes and comes over to join me, walking with me by the water, waves occasionally washing over our feet. It's a ritual we started way back, and it's as natural to me as it is to him. Whenever we're left behind by our friends, which happens more than I'd like to admit, we walk home together in an unvoiced agreement of peace. I can't help but think it's a great way to end a summer day.

We spend most of the summer together, but not together. I happen to be there, and he happens to be there, and so are most of our friends on most days. Only when we are alone can we be said to be together. I acknowledge his presence, he acknowledges mine, we fight and have swim competitions and maybe even talk, but we don't spend time together.

He has his small army of fangirls, and I'd rather drown than hang around him when they're bothering him. Seeing as he hasn't been home for too long they're clingy, and more often than not won't accept him not bringing any of them home with him until he dumps them right outside his house. I'm not sure why, but their disgruntled expressions always put me in a better mood. I'm the only one Sasuke walks home with alone.

It's not until Kiba points it out that I realize that maybe, just maybe, I am feeling a tad bit possessive over my rival.

"Dude, you're watching him more often than Ino looks herself in the mirror" he complains, when I'm once again trailing off mid-sentence to observe as the just mentioned blonde latches onto Sasuke's arm the moment he gets up to go somewhere.

"I don't know what you're talking about" I contradict him, but even I have to admit it's a weak comeback, seeing as my eyes are still trained on the dark spikes of hair now leaving in the direction of the small beach café, the wrong shade of blonde accompanying him.

"Why are you bringing this up again Kiba?" Shikamaru drawls sleepily from his outstretched position on his towel. "We both know it's too late to cure him from the gay."

I can sense them staring at me, and I shake out of my drifting thoughts to look at them questioningly, narrowing my eyes at the disbelief written over Kiba's face.

"What?"

Kiba shakes his head, that look still in place.

"Just go bang him, man. I doubt he'd have anything against it."

And just like that my face explodes in a blush I can't control, and as a last resort to retain my dignity I throw a handful of sand at him so he can't see. Shikamaru I don't bother with, you can't hide anything from that guy.

"Shut your fucking mouth you asshole!" I yell at him, standing up and stalking off furiously.

Kiba has no idea what he's talking about. Me and Sasuke? That's ridiculous for so many reasons I won't bother to count them. I'm only watching Sasuke because he's my rival, and I need to make sure he doesn't do anything shitty or challenge me somehow. I'd never lose to that bastard! If Sasuke scored five goals, I'd score ten! If Sasuke got the highest grade, I'd study like hell and get the same! If Sasuke fucked ten girls, I'd-

I falter. If Sasuke fucked ten girls, what would I do?

Break down and cry a small voice whispers in my head. I scoff and kick angrily at the ground, doubling my speed. Ha! As if anyone would do something like that for a bastard like him. If Sasuke did ten girls I'd do twenty!

I've reached the small building containing changing rooms, and I stop once I've gone past it to lean against a side wall, out of sight from my friends. What do they know anyway? Their lives are easy. They don't feel a weird squeezing in their chests every time Sasuke talks to them, or looks at them, or break out in shivers if he touches them…

I close my eyes, leaning my head back against the rough painted wood. No one gets me riled up the way Sasuke does. I guess that's why I hate him.

Not that I really hate him. When it comes down to it, I guess it's more along the lines of-

"Ino, what are we doing here?" I hear Sasuke sigh, and I almost let out a shriek.

A manly shriek of course.

I stand frozen, back pressed into the wall, listening to what must be Sasuke and Ino inside one of the rooms in the building behind me.

"Oh Sasuke, I think you know" Ino giggles. "Come on, I've been trying to get you alone for weeks, no one's gonna come in here since it's closed for renovations."

"In that case we probably shouldn't be here either."

I nod enthusiastically, agreeing with Sasuke's annoyance. They shouldn't be there, and definitely not alone. I know very well what guys and girls use that room for – and I'm sure Sasuke knows too. So why the hell did he follow her?

"Aww but now we're already here, so we might as well use it to our advantage!"

"For what, exactly?"

Sasuke's voice is dripping with sarcasm, and I hold my breath. I mean, I can't be sure if he's sarcastic because he thinks she's stupid to think he'd ever do that kind of thing with her, or if it's because she's having trouble getting to the point and it annoys him.

There are a few seconds of silence, and then I hear Sasuke snort.

"You must be kidding" he scoffs, and Ino lets out a sound of indignation.

"What's wrong with you Sasuke?! Any guy would jump at the chance to be with me!"

She sounds upset, and I scowl at nothing in particular. Ha! Any guy but Sasuke! He's way too good for her anyway. You'd think his non-existent enthusiasm the past weeks would be a hint.

"Yeah, well, I'm not any guy. If I wanted to do you don't you think I'd have done it already?"

I wince at the harsh tone, thinking he didn't have to be so mean even though she's been a bit of a bother. It's not like he really tried to shake her off before. Then I remember just how much she's annoyed me always hanging off his arm and wish for something even harsher.

I hear the telltale sound of a hand making contact with a cheek and I wince again, Ino's footsteps fading as she leaves without a word. I let out a quiet sigh of relief; this kind of thing isn't good for my heart.

"God, girls are so annoying" Sasuke suddenly mutters to himself, and I feel more than hear how he leans onto the wall too close to me, only thin planks separating us. Just as I'm gathering my resolve to leave before anyone sees me and calls my name or even worse, Sasuke mutters another sentence that sends my heart skyrocketing.

"I like my blonds tan and toned thank you very much."

I'm not sure how long I stand there in a trance, brain almost hurting from trying to decide just what Sasuke meant by that statement, but when I come to it's because of my phone buzzing in my pocket. I hiss out a curse, frantically trying to get it out, calming down when I realize Sasuke has left and can't catch me. The caller is Kiba, but instead of answering I decide to just go back and let him know I'm still alive and not pissed at him.

Well, maybe if I hadn't overheard that conversation I would still be pissed, but I'm too occupied by trying to think of what other blond Sasuke could possibly have meant that fit the tan and toned category.

I couldn't think of any.

The words play on repeat in my mind for the next few days, makes me distracted at work and skittish in the evenings when hanging with my friends. The more I think about it the less convinced I am that it wasn't all a dream, just something I conjured up because I wanted it to be true. It's a slow process, but it finally dawns on me that my obsession with Sasuke has left the boundaries of a simple friendship a long time ago.

Not that we've ever been friends, but it sure as hell is easier to think of it like that than the other option.

And now that I can no longer deny that other option it's staring me right in the face, laughing at my earlier naivety, or perhaps blind stubbornness in refusing to see it.

I wanted Sasuke that way.

I was out of denial but instead threw myself wholeheartedly into self-pity, cursing my luck and avoiding the object of my, ugh, affection like the plague. At night I'd have trouble sleeping, tossing and turning and fighting a losing battle against the treacherous thoughts that had tried to gain my attention during the past years.

Thoughts of Sasuke touching me, and more often thoughts of me touching Sasuke.

It scares me. Suddenly, I feel vulnerable, as if Sasuke has the power to break me. If he looked at me like he must have looked at Ino, telling me I was disgusting with that condescending kind of voice he was so good at…

Yet, there was that small voice in my head reminding me of all those nights we'd walked home together, all those times Sasuke had already touched me whether it was willingly or by chance, those words Sasuke had muttered only to himself, all those almosts we'd shared that I'd never let my thoughts linger on before.

Simply thinking about Sasuke brought out a heat inside me, spreading through my body if I didn't stop it in time, sending tingles up my spine and goose bumps down my arms, affecting a certain part of my body I was sure shouldn't be affected by someone like him.

Fighting it was useless. Avoiding him was, too. I'd gotten used to seeing him every day, after not seeing him for so long, and I couldn't stop myself from wanting to see him despite almost shaking with worry that I wouldn't be able to control myself, to act normally, not now that I knew.

And to think Kiba had guessed it ages ago, it made me feel stupid. Not that me being occasionally stupid was anything new.

I sweep my eyes around the camp fire crackling in the small clearing behind Sakura's house, almost everyone in our age group is there for the night. I unclench my fingers when I can't see Sasuke, both happy he isn't here and disappointed that he didn't come.

"Looking for someone?" that smooth deep voice suddenly sounds right behind me, and sadly I jump and turn around quickly, eyes wide and heart pounding.

Fuck. I haven't seen him this close since I realized my feelings, and it was as if he'd gone out of his way to look good tonight, making my life hell as always.

"No" I answer, and I bite my tongue at the break in routine. Usually I'd say something like 'someone not a bastard' or 'yeah but I guess I won't find them now that your ugly face blinded me'. "I'm just gonna go dump these marshmallows or Sakura will kill me for being late" I continue nervously, hoping he won't think anything of my slip-up.

"Good point" he agrees, continuing my break of protocol as he holds up a pack of beers to show he's got stuff to hand over as well.

The mood between us is strange as we walk over to the fire, putting our stuff down next to it and greeting Sakura. Maybe it's just me being paranoid, but Sasuke seems to watch me more intensely than usual. He sticks around as I get into a forced conversation with Sai, sitting down on one of the logs and poking at the fire with a stick.

A few minutes later Sakura calls for everyone's attention and we all sit down, and somehow I end up squeezed between Sasuke and Sai. I get a few poisonous looks from the girls, but I'd gladly switch with them. I've always found Sai a little creepy, and I'm torn between edging away from him and keeping as much distance to Sasuke as possible.

When Shikamaru finally shows up and lazily demands a spot on the same log as me in order to sit next to Temari I'm forcefully pressed up against Sasuke, wondering how the hell this happened and more importantly, how I was supposed to not get a boner from this. I sit stiffly, and of course Sasuke notices because this is my lucky day, and I fight desperately against the prickling on my skin as he leans close to me and whisper in my ear.

"Don't tell me you're scared, Naruto?"

It should be illegal how sexy he sounds when saying my name.

"Of what?" I grit out between clenched teeth, turning my head away from him, forcing my breathing to stay steady.

I try to ignore my body wanting to lean into the sound of his voice, the warmth of his breath on my neck, not to mention that seeping from his side into my arm.

"You tell me, you're the scared one" he mumbles teasingly, and when I turn to glare at him he snatches my stick from me and eats my marshmallow right off it.

"What do you think you're doing?!" I squawk, giving him a hurt look, momentarily forgetting about my distress. "That was mine!"

I'd just been cooling it down too, to make it the perfect temperature for eating.

"I'm out of marshmallows" he shrugs, acting indifferently but I easily catch the smirk behind his words.

"Why you little-!" I growl and push him, so that he lands on his back behind the log.

I grin at him in satisfaction for about two seconds before his hands grab me and pull me down with him, and then we're rolling around on the dirty ground trying to get in a good hit. Some of the others shout at us to lay it off, and some of the guys cheer us on, but that only lasts a couple of seconds before they lose interest.

Apparently we do this too often.

I'm beyond caring about any audience though, all I can see is Sasuke, all I can hear and feel is Sasuke, and all I can smell is earth and leaves and I'm sure I tear my shirt on something. We scuffle around, probably bruising more from rolling onto stones and against tree roots than any actual hitting. He manages to hold me down, but the near explosion of adrenaline this causes in me is enough to throw him off me, and we scramble to our feet and it's not until we're at least a minute's walk into the now darkening forest that I realize he must have led me here on purpose.

He's stopped, and now he's staring at me, panting just like me. I swallow the lump in my throat, running a hand through my hair just for something to do and grimacing at the twigs and leaves I find there, wondering where the hell we were and why.

"I'm going back tomorrow."

I turn my head towards him so fast I can hear my neck protest, and I try to make out his face in the shadows but it's difficult.

"Back?" I repeat dumbly, my voice much louder than his. "Back where?"

"To the city, dumbass" he snorts, starting to brush dirt off his clothes.

I guess the fight is over then, no winner determined. Then it hits me, and I deflate, air whooshing out of me like a popped balloon.

"Oh."

It's all I can think of saying, and Sasuke is probably as dissatisfied with the reaction as I am because he quickly walks over to me and grabs a hold of my shirt, pulling me so close our noses bump.

I forget how to breathe.

"Oh" he repeats. "Is that all you can say?"

I open and close my mouth, wondering how you use lungs again.

"That's even worse than a year ago."

He sounds pretty angry, and I think back to what happened last year. There's not much to remember. Sasuke announced his date of leaving, everybody and their grandmothers already knowing he was off to study fancy stuff in The Big City. And me? I kind of stood at the train station with crossed arms and a glare as he got on the train, everyone else crowded around the popular bastard and making it impossible to talk to him.

That's not to say I didn't have the chance to say my goodbyes, but I put it off to the very last moment and ended up not even waving at him.

I'm such a loser.

"I'm sorry" I mutter, finally finding my voice again, unable to meet his eyes though.

"You're sorry" he says, sounding part annoyed part disbelieving. "Really Naruto, is that the best you can come up with?"

His mocking tone sets something off in me, and I take a deep breath before shouting at him.

"It's not my fucking fault your fan club was occupying the whole damn station! I tried okay and I failed!"

"You could have called me!" he shouts back, fists tightening their grip.

"Why the hell would I call you, you could have called me!"

"I'm not the idiot who couldn't even say goodbye!"

"You could have found me before leaving if it was so goddamn important!"

By this time I'm fisting his shirt in my hands too, and I'm pretty sure some of my spit landed on his face. I glare at him and he glares right back, but he seems to struggle for words and I take a step forwards, invading his personal space further by pushing our thighs together.

Damn it feels good.

"You didn't even come see me over Christmas break when I was home" Sasuke grits out, voice lower again as he looks to the side, and I feel guilt well up in my throat that shouldn't be there.

"I'd have come over if I knew you were here you stupid bastard! I only heard from Sakura after you'd already left. You could have showed your face around town at least."

Sasuke searches my eyes, and I realize with surprise that he actually wanted to see me when he came back to visit. Had he, maybe, missed me too?

"Easy for you to say, you weren't down with the flu" he mumbles.

We're still standing close, his hands relaxing against my chest, mine against his hips. We're almost the same height, but Sasuke is a little taller. He sighs, looking into my eyes again, and they stand out against his pale skin that refuses to tan no matter how much time he spends in the sun.

"You've got something here" I murmur, unconsciously bringing a hand up to brush over his eyelashes, removing the small piece of dirt I noticed there, and I guess that's as close to a real apology I'll ever produce.

"Thanks" he whispers, and I know I'm forgiven. For what I'm not sure, but it feels good to know that I am.

Suddenly I can't help myself. I don't know if it's the intimate situation we're in, or the fact that it's just been building up to the point where I can't control myself anymore, but for whatever reason I close the small distance between us and press my lips to his cold ones.

It's brief, so brief I'm not even sure it happened but I'm soon convinced it did because Sasuke's fingers curl around the fabric of my shirt again as he smashes our mouths together, kissing me hard.

It's sloppy, inexperienced and kind of messy, and our teeth clash painfully, and I bite his lip by accident, but even so it's so, so perfect I can't even begin to understand why I've put this off for so long.

Why I've denied wanting something that feels so incredibly good.

I stumble as he pushes me backwards, only realizing where we're going when my back connects with the thick trunk of a tree. He presses into me, and if I was shivering before then now I feel like I'm shaking. His body is warm, his palms now flat against my chest and running down it, fire following the path they make. Heat blooms from my stomach into my body like the ink from an octopus does in water, and I'm desperately moving my lips against his to feel more, to be more, so that we can be together in the way we should be.

The way I now know he also wants us to be.

I gasp for breath when his mouth leaves mine, I'm sure he can feel my frantic pulse through the thin skin on my throat as he places open-mouthed kisses all over it.

My fingers twist in his hair now, and I don't know if I'm trying to pull him closer because his teeth mark me so good, or if I'm trying to push him off since it kind of hurts too. All I know is that once I feel his hardness against mine I lose control and turn us over, grinding madly into him, the pleasure pounding in my ears.

I return the favor on his neck, licking and sucking and feeling him jerk and shudder, and it's a high I never want to come down from. He's clinging to the back of my shirt, his nails digging into my skin as I rub myself against him in a steady rocking motion, slower now because my muscles are starting to protest.

I guess working out right before coming here was a bad idea, but it was the only thing that managed to calm my nerves.

Those nerves are anything but calm now despite that, and I let out a shaky breath when Sasuke's hands wander lower and brush along the hem of my jeans, sneaking underneath my shirt. When they move even lower, over the back of my jeans to grab boldly at my ass, I feel the pressure in my lower abdomen building up to unbearable. I drag my hands down his neck, along his shoulders and then arms, letting out a muffled groan as he squeezes me when my hands glide over the skin on his sides.

I can't believe this is happening. I'm touching Sasuke, and he's touching me, and it's better than I ever imagined. Better than the secret dreams I've had, better than that one time I got to second base with a girl last winter.

I can't remember ever being this turned on, craving release this much. I want to jump recklessly over the edge with Sasuke, and if explosions don't go off all over the area I will be very disappointed.

"Nn-Naruto" he groans, and it's so unexpected and so stimulating that I come before I can prepare for it.

I jerk unevenly against him, breathing heavily into his neck, clutching his back as I'm all but knocked out by the pleasure coursing through my body.

How did I live without this before?

One of his hands finds my head and forces it up, his mouth slants against mine and it's enough to make me groan again. His other hand grabs my arm and moves it, taking a hold of my hand and moving it down until I can feel without doubt just how affected he is too.

We keep kissing as I slowly rub him, curiously tracing the contour of him, trying to memorize the feeling through my dizzy mind. His fingers tighten around my arm and I hear how his breathing speed up even more, and guessing he's close I move my hand harder and faster, sucking on his lower lip. It doesn't take long until he shudders, leaning his forehead against mine as he breaks our kiss to try and muffle the sounds he makes.

I look at his face, but it's too much, too hot, so instead I lower my gaze. I can feel a wet spot forming on his shorts underneath my hand. The feel of it is somehow the ultimate confirmation, the fact that we just did this and it can't be erased or brushed off because the evidence is right there, in that dark spot on the light grey fabric.

Of course, there's a similar wetness in my own pants, and I swallow hard to try and loosen up my tightening throat.

"Hah" Sasuke sighs in relief and leans back against the tree, hands falling to his sides as he watches me with a satisfied expression. "Feels good to finally have that cleared up."

I have no idea how to react, but somehow my brain decides that kissing again is a good idea. By the time I'm starting to feel worked up again we're interrupted by both our phones going off almost simultaneously.

"What?" Sasuke asks the person calling him, annoyed, and I don't even bother to answer mine. "We're heading home for a bit, our clothes got pretty torn. We'll be back later."

I say nothing as he shoves the phone back in his pockets and grabs me by the hand, dragging me out of the forest by a detour to avoid bumping into someone.

I wonder why we've never held hands before.

We do go back to the others later though, after getting scolded by our parents for getting into yet another fight. Our houses are diagonally from each other, and for some reason his parents must have gone easy on him because he's already waiting for me as I come back outside.

We don't tell anyone, instead we act as if nothing life-altering had happened during the past two hours or so, and too soon the night is over and he's kissing me goodnight on the street between our houses.

Waking up the next morning is strange. I feel as if I need to settle into my new relationship with Sasuke, I need to correct the way I think about him and describe him in my mind. We can still be rivals, I'm not expecting that to change, but he's no longer a jerk out to get me.

Or rather, I add to myself with a blush and my pillow pressed to my face, he's not out to get me because he already has me.

And standing at the train station to wave him off is nothing like last year. First if all he hasn't told his fan club about leaving, so I'm sure I'll be hearing all sorts of whining and complaining for a few weeks onwards. And second of all, he hugs me close and kisses me right in front of his family.

I glance at them but my protests die when I notice they're not paying attention to us. Huh, I guess he must have told them.

"So, call me" he says when he finally lets me go, and there's a tone of insecurity in his voice that makes me unable not to mess with him a little bit.

"Maybe" I sing, quoting his least favorite song of all time because I used to sing it to him countless times last summer.

And sure enough his brows furrow instantly and his mouth thins into a line, making my grin widen.

"You're not funny" he grumbles, and I peck his nose just because I can and because I'm guessing it will irritate him even more.

"You think I'm hot, I don't need to be funny" I say and he scowls at me.

"Correction: call me or I'll beat you up next time I see you" he says, and I don't doubt for a second that he's telling the truth.

"Yeah yeah, I'll call you every day, it's a promise!"

"No, not every day, you're too annoying to deal with that often" he replies with a smug smirk.

Fine, so he got me back, but I'll let him have this small victory.

"Bastard" I say, and his smirk turns less superior, almost hinting at a smile underneath.

This, if anything, tells me I'd better call every day or I'll have one angry Uchiha to answer to.

Then, suddenly, time is moving too fast and his brother helps him onto the train and I'm waving as it starts to leave, giving him the finger when he blows me a kiss and a wink because that's just way too embarrassing for people like us.

It's a little awkward being left behind with his family, and I'm one hundred percent certain that if they know I have about an hour left before my parents also know, and soon enough we'll be the talk of town.

I don't really mind though, I just send Sasuke a bitter thought at managing to escape the chaos that is bound to happen.

Then again, Sasuke and I have always been surrounded by a bit of chaos. That's just who we are.

Naruto and Sasuke

I hope you enjoyed it! Internet is a bitch and it took me ages to upload this, so you better be happy... To those of you reading my on-going stories, I apologize for not having written the last chapter to Seven Days yet. I have it all written out in my head, but I just can't motivate myself to type itD: I'm also enjoying my family vacation right now, camping is so much fun... I already feel like climbing the walls of this tiny little house... Lots of love!